Pa. will continue voter ID education

Thursday, March 7, 2013

This is in response to a recent editorial in The Mercury regarding the voter ID law.

The judge in the voter ID lawsuit has ruled the requirement for voters to show photo ID at the polls will again be on hold for this May’s primary election, pending the outcome of a trial on the law this summer.

The judge has also said the law’s “soft rollout” will continue. Poll workers are to ask for ID, though ID will not be required to vote. If a voter does not have acceptable ID, poll workers should give the voter a handout listing acceptable IDs for future elections.

Far from a waste of money as the recent editorial suggests, these continuing education efforts by county election officials are appropriate to help insure all voters understand what IDs are acceptable for future elections. The cost is minimal, involving the printing of handouts and properly training election workers at annual pre-election training sessions.

Under existing law, first time voters, or people voting for the first time at a new polling place, must show ID. This can be a photo ID or a non-photo ID with the voter’s name and address, such as a utility bill. Absentee voters must give their Pennsylvania driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number, as this part of the voter ID law went into effect last November. Military and overseas voters are exempt from this absentee provision.

Majorities of Pennsylvania citizens, in poll after poll, support some form of voter identification to help make sure only legal voters decide our elections.

The Pennsylvania Department of State will continue working with our county election partners to educate voters, and insure the integrity of our voting process.

Carole Aichele, Secretary of the Commonwealth, heads the Pennsylvania Department of State which oversees elections.